Sir Keir Starmer has said the Government must be held to "solemn commitments" to avoid a hard Irish border after Brexit.

The shadow Brexit Secretary made the comment after meeting business leaders and traders from both sides of the border during visits to Belfast and Londonderry.

Sir Keir said there must be "no rowing back" on the commitments made as the first round of Brexit talks opened last December. He said: "Obviously one of the main talking points has been, 'how do we hold everybody to the really solemn commitments that were made in phase one to no hard border in Northern Ireland, meaning no infrastructure, no checks and no controls'.

"Even just looking at the border, as we were doing, it is hard to imagine how that could possibly change and the solemn commitment is, that it won't change. I think it is really important that the Government is held to that."